Grand Strand Fishing Report: Surprise catches of cobia, wahoo in the summer fishing mix

Estuary

Look For: Spotted seatrout, red drum, flounder, black drum, sheepshead, Spanish mackerel, bluefish.

Comments: Despite the balmy water temperatures in local bays, inlets and sounds, area guides are still producing some quality fish. Capt. Mike McDonald of Gul-R-Boy Guide Service in Georgetown found some solid action namely for red drum and spotted seatrout early in the week, producing 10 trout, five redfish, five flounder and a pair of bull whiting on a Sunday trip in the Winyah Bay vicinity. On Monday, the totals were 14 redfish, five trout and two flounder. McDonald has observed numerous juvenile redfish in the 8-10 inch range which bodes well for the future. “Everywhere down here is loaded with them,” McDonald said of the juvenile reds. McDonald, who noted a water temperature from the low 80s to around 90 degrees, has used finger mullet for bait this week. On the north end, Capt. Chris Ossman of Fine Catch Fishing Charters has also observed water temperatures in the 88-90 degree range, even in early morning. “Hot,” said Ossman. “The dead water is just too hot, so if you can find moving water with rips and deeper ledges, I’ve found some trout and reds in those areas.” Ossman has also found juvenile black drum on a falling tide. At the Little River jetties, some large trout are available, with a catch. “If you can pick through all the bait stealers, you can find some good trout,” said Ossman. “Have a spoon ready. You can pick off a couple Spanish while trout fishing out there.” Ossman has used live shrimp and finger mullet for bait. “There are a lot of shrimp in the creeks,” said Ossman. Capt. Jeff Maples of Reel Salty Charters has found a decent flounder bite in Murrells Inlet. “If you can find clean water in the inlet, you can find flounder,” said Maples.

Inshore

Look For: King mackerel, Spanish mackerel, cobia, tarpon, spadefish, whiting, pompano, flounder, black drum, red drum, spotted seatrout.

Comments: Last Friday on a calm morning, Capt. Dan Connolly of O-Fish-Al Expeditions headed to Paradise Reef (three miles east of Murrells Inlet) on his little Key West Redfish skiff with Chris and Christy Krilitech aboard and mackerel in mind. After two hours of slow-trolling small ballyhoo produced one nice Spanish, Connolly decided to anchor up on top of the structure and target flounder. After setting the anchor, Connolly glanced behind the motor and his eyes got wide. “The fish was right behind the motor looking at me,” said Connolly, who had spotted a very nice cobia milling around the surface. Connolly quickly grabbed a set-up he had ready to toss a live bait and dipped into the live well for a mullet. He glanced back up and the cobia was gone. “I thought ‘I’m not going to lose this fish,’ “ Connolly recalled. Connolly began tossing shrimp and chunks of ballyhoo behind the boat in an effort to chum the fish back up. “As soon as the ballyhoo got out there he showed back up and started slurping the ballyhoo chunks,” said Connolly. The captain hooked up a large piece of ballyhoo and tossed it out, and the cobia inhaled it. He set the hook, handed the rod to Chris Krilitech, ditched the anchor and started following the fish. Over a half-hour later and a mile from the point of hook-up, Connolly gaffed, subdued and boated the cobia, a 40-pounder. Aside from Connolly’s cobia adventure, mackerel action has slowed down near the beach and the near-shore artificial reefs. Flounder, spadefish, sharks and predominantly small black sea bass are also available on the reefs. Ossman caught three flounder in 20 minutes with two keepers over the 15-inch minimum size limit from a near-shore reef out of Little River Tuesday. “There are definitely still some good flounder on the reef,” said Ossman. Maples of Reel Salty Charters has found very warm water even out to the Bill Perry Reef, located about 32 miles east-southeast of Murrells Inlet in 95 feet of water. “It was 87 degrees all the way out to the Bill Perry,” said Maples. “There are some kings and some good-size Spanish but it’s super slow. The fish are down deep.” Maples has had some success with Spanish and kings slow-trolling cigar minnows mainly in the Belky Bear vicinity. Spanish mackerel, whiting, flounder and spadefish have been the top catch from Grand Strand piers this week, although trout, black drum and red drum have been landed from the newly-opened Springmaid Pier. “There are lots of spadefish, not many keepers, but a lot of them,” said Steve Gann of Cherry Grove Pier. Apache Pier reported a surface ocean water temperature of 84 degrees early in the week.

Offshore

Look For: Blackfin tuna, wahoo, king mackerel, dolphin, sailfish, blue marlin, bonito, grouper, red snapper, amberjack, vermilion snapper, triggerfish, red porgy, black sea bass.

Comments: With the Dog Days of Summer set in and expectations not extremely high, Capt. Shane Bashor of Side Kick Charters was trolling in 120 feet of water south of Murrells Inlet Monday morning and got a huge bite on a ballyhoo with a black and red Ilander skirt. After one big run, an 80-pound wahoo was gaffed and pulled into the boat. “It sure was a heck of an inshore July surprise,” said Bashor. The captain later switched to bottom fishing and a 36-pound king came calling on a drift line. With two big members of the mackerel family in the box, the bottom fishing produced one scamp grouper, a limit of vermilion snapper (bee-liners) and assorted red porgy and triggerfish. On Tuesday, Bashor returned to the same area and boated a 25-pound wahoo, plus pulled the hook on a larger fish. Trolling also produced three kings in the 10-15 pound range. Bottom fishing on the trip produced another limit of vermilion plus red porgy and triggerfish. The four-day red snapper mini-season for the year 2020 is in the books. The seas cooperated and the bottom spots were crowded around the break. Plenty of boats landed their limit of one red snapper per person, along with scamp, amberjack, vermilion snapper, red porgy, black sea bass, grunts and triggerfish. Until the next red snapper mini-season is granted, hopefully in 2021, the species will be off-limits in the South Atlantic Region and must be released. Anglers targeting snapper-grouper species are now required to have a descending device on board and readily available for use in the South Atlantic Region.

Freshwater

Look For: Bream, bass, catfish, crappie.

Comments: Water levels have improved nicely over the last week on the Waccamaw, Little Pee Dee, Great Pee Dee and Santee rivers, which is good news for local freshwater anglers. For bream, Ronald “Catfish” Stalvey of Stalvey’s Bait and Tackle in Conway says to work areas such as lakes and creeks off the main river in 2-4 feet of water, floating crickets and worms. The catfish bite is good with a variety of baits working. Fresh cut eel is a prime bait, and live bream are a top option particularly for flatheads. Cut shad or mullet will also produce catfish. With the water temperature in the mid 80s, the best action for bass is early and late in the day on top-water lures. Angler Nate Rabon won the weekly bass tournament out of Conway Marina, weighing in a 3-pound, 14-ounce fish and winning $880.